Romans 8:1-13
Sermon
I think you know that in January we took a little vacation to visit our friends in Florida. And for a whole week, that family of 6 was invaded by a family of 7.
I bet you can imagine, we made a mess of their life!
Meal planning, there were lines for the bathrooms. And there is lots of good. Lots of friends, half as much cooking. Double dates.
That only begins to make a mess of your life. A week. Some of you have taken a loved one in for months. Years at a time. That really messes up your life. All of your time, your schedule. Even all the way down to your desires and preferences. Everything changes.
Now if that is true if someone moves into your house for a little bit, what does that mean if someone moved inside you - permanently? Because that is what Paul says in these verses this morning. He says, “if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you” (verse 9).
Adventure
For the last few weeks, God has put some big stuff before us.
First, he really forced the question, who or what is your God? He wants to be your God and provide you with your identity, belonging, purpose, forgiveness, and approval – all the things you need.
Second, he has said, I can be a pivot place in your life.
Today he wants to say, look you realize if God moves into your life that is going to make a mess of some things, that is going to mess stuff up, but that is also the only way you are really going to come alive!
It’s a little uncomfortable to accommodate somebody like this, but at the same time is more uncomfortable to not accommodate the company. You’re going to have to lay down some of the things you want and do. When you’re done you will be so much better, you will have more than you imagined.
Come alive
We’re going to be in Romans 8 today, starting with verse 5.
Content
One of the things I think is neat and is a sign of hope is that our younger people are much more willing to admit that we are spiritual beings and there is a spiritual side of life. In my experience, you’re much more willing to deal with what Paul addresses here.
Paul says, “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” Paul is talking about body and soul. Then he says there is a third thing, a higher thing, called the Spirit. This is what I’m saying young people are good at doing.
Young people are known for being spiritual but not religious.
You’re the ones, more than anyone, who will say this event, this gathering is just so dull and lifeless.
Let me give you one funny example that shows, a little bit, how much things might have changed. 1977. Famous song from the BeeGees. Stayin Alive. Lyrics go
“Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'
And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive
“Life goin' nowhere, somebody help me
Somebody help me, yeah
Fun song. I enjoy it. The song asks for help. “Life goin’ nowhere, somebody help me.” What strikes me is the spirit the song wants. What is it? “Stayin alive, stayin live”. The writer isn’t saying, I’m so down on my luck and I’ve been kicked around and beat up, and now I feel dead. He says, I’m down and I’ve been kicked around and the city is breaking and everyone is shaking but I’m staying alive!
Fastforward 40 years. One of the main songs of the hit movie “The Greatest Showman” is titled “Come Alive.” It starts with almost the exact same context. Life has been really hard. You’re down on your luck. You’ve been beat up. So what to do? “Come alive, come alive, go and light your light let it burn so bright.”
Do you hear the difference? One said, my circumstances stink but I’m fine. I’m going ahead. The other said, no my circumstances stink and you know what, so does my spirit. It’s dead. I need to come alive.
You will say something that 40, 50, maybe 100 years ago no one would have ever said. Paul says, “the mind governed by the flesh is death”. And there are plenty of people who would say, Amen, Paul. Right on.
Who here needs to say, I’m crushed. Who here needs to say I’m broken down. Who here needs to say, I’m lifeless. I’m spent. My spirit is empty! I need a new spirit.
Friends, your mind is dead inside. If you feel dead on the inside, I want you to just sit back for a moment and take a big breath and say, I feel dead inside.
And if you don’t, first good. I’m glad for you. I want you to notice something here. Be careful. Paul says, people who “live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires.” He contrasts that with living according to the Spirit because you have your mind set on what the Spirit desires. Do you see what he does there?
He says, I can tell what you really love in life by what you life for. What you live for shows me what you love. Living a good and right life not even as easy as saying, I believe in Jesus as my Savior and Lord. New spiritual life is not some trite simplistic thing.
Maybe I can put it this way. At the end of the section, he adds this. He says, “people who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God”(verse 14). And he says, “if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ” (verse 9)
He doesn’t say, “children of God are led by the Spirit of God”. And he doesn’t say, “people who belong to Christ have the Spirit of Christ.” He says the opposite.
This is NOT, this is not undoing faith in Jesus. People who believe in Jesus are saved. Boom. End of story.
He is saying, look. Faith is more than your words. You can’t just claim “Jesus is my Savior and Lord”. You got to have the Holy Spirit in your mind. In your self. In your gut.
Let me come back to that original picture. Imagine that you’ve got someone coming over to your house. They knock on the door. You got to let them in.
And you have to actually let them rearrange your house. But here is the problem.
You let them in because you know should and it’s the right thing to do, but you don’t really want them there. You’re ashamed of your house. It’s kind of messy, it needs updating, and lots of things need repair. You don’t like your couch because it is the same one that you had in college and you took it from your parent’s basement. You don’t really have any groceries or food in the house. No one is really comfortable in your house.
Whether you don’t believe in Jesus or you claim Jesus but you are really focused on the flesh, you are dead inside. This is worse than we might have thought or imagined.
This is far worse than we imagine because we’d love to hope that we don’t have to let anyone inside. We’d love to imagine there is no mess or at the worse we can clean it ourselves. Are you tracking with me? We’re talking about all the stuff that is going on in here. Your disappointments. Your anger. Your bitterness. Your hostility. All that stuff.
But God says is maybe the problem is worse than you realize because you think you’ve actually dealt with the stuff but if there is no one in there rearranging things, then woah.
And so what God promises to you here is if you let the Spirit inside, you will come alive. The first thing is that you have to know that when you receive God, you get the Spirit. No matter. They are a package deal.
If you look at verses 9 and 10, you see there it says, “you … are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you...” Isn’t that cool? It doesn’t matter if you get God, you get Christ, or you just get the Spirit, it’s all the same thing. The Spirit is God. He is the third person of the Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Let’s start to unpack what this means.
In just a moment, Paul is going to use this famous line that says we cry out, “Abba, Father” because we are children of God. Not just any children but little children. He says that is the relationship we have with the Father. And in fact, you can’t have that kind of child – Father relationship with the God of heaven and earth if you don’t have the Spirit. If you want a father, you get the Spirit.
Similarly he says, we’re heirs. When Jesus died, everything that belonged to Jesus, was given to you. The Holy Spirit takes all of the riches of heaven and earth, all of the rewards, and he transfers them to you. If you want to be an heir, then you got to take the Spirit.
Come back to my imagine of God coming into the house. God says to you, I don’t care how ugly your house is. I don’t care how messy your house. I don’t care how little food your house has.
And I’m talking about your spirit now, so let me be more specific.
Some of you really want people to approve of you. I get that. I’ve been there. That can make an ugly mess of your life.
You’re afraid of people not accepting or approving of you
You’re angry when people don’t approve of you
You’re desperate for people to like you
If you feel like this, you know it can make a mess. One of the things I’ve seen make the biggest difference is to ask, what is God up to here?
It stops assuming that I’m right and need to be proven so and instead assumes that God is the one who is right and he will do what is good. More often than not that is exactly what he does. He works what is right and I, others get life.
The Spirit gives life because of righteousness. (verse 10)
When you can say God come on into my life. Whatever you work will be good. Yes, you’re going to get messed up. You’ll get changed. You’ll finally come alive.
Action
Breathing the musty dirty air of this life will never give you life. You need to bring some new air inside. Balloons.
My family has this running practice that we constantly tell each other that we can stay with one another for as long as we want, but we don’t really do it. None of us like it. When my parents come, you notice, they stay for one night.
We don’t want to move into someone else’s life and we don’t want someone else to move into our lives.
That won’t work. You need a new spirit inside to come alive.
Relish who you are as a child of the eternal Father. Relish who you are as an heir of an eternal inheritance. Relish who you are as the home of the Holy Spirit.
Let the Spirit inside and come alive!
Dear Jesus, The biggest problem in life is not that we don’t know enough or that the circumstances are insurmountable. The biggest problem is that we forget what you say. We fail to believe. We fail to have your life giving truths burned deep into us. Renew us. Make us come alive, to the glory of your name. Amen.